Tar Heel Junior Historian Historian North Carolina History for Students Association, Fall 1999 Volume 39, Number 1

turn of the twentieth century Fall 1999 Produced by the North Carolina Museum of History Nr Heel jn-Por historian Worth Carolina History for Students Tar Heeh Junior Tar Heel Junior Historian Historian North Carolina History for Students Association, Fall 1999 Volume 39, Number 1 Caver photographs all courtesy of North Carolim State Archives, North Carolina Division of Archives and History, except top right (the Hausers), which is courtesy of North Carolina Historic Sites, Division of Archives and History. Contents State of North Carolina 1 Introduction to Life at the Turn of the Century by Gary Freeze James B. Hunt Jr., Governor Dennis A. Wicker, Lieutenant Governor 4 Social Life at the Turn of the Century by Gary Freeze Department of Cultural Resources Betty Ray McCain, Secretary Elizabeth F. Buford, Deputy Secretary 6 Horne Creek Farm in the Year 1900 by Anne Radford Phillips North Carolina Museum of History Janice C. Williams, Interim Director 8 One-Stop Shopping in 1900 by Valerie J. Howell Vicki L. Berger, Collections Management Section Kimberly Gordon-Eaton, Administration Section 10 Women in 1900 by Anastatia Sims Charles A. LeCount, Curation Section Martha P. Tracy, Education Section 13 Sallie Southall Cotten by Anastatia Sims Tar Heel Junior Historian Association Rebecca Lewis, Program Coordinator 14 Tar Heel Junior Historian Essay Contest Winner by Casey Riddle Gail Deaton, Subscription Coordinator 16 Politics at the Turn of the Century by Karl Campbell Tar Heel Junior Historian Staff Doris McLean Bates, Editor Daniel Russell, Designer 19 George Henry White by John Haley Nancy Pennington, Cover Designer Kathleen B. Wyche, Editor in Chief 20 ACTIVITIES SECTION: Think about the Turn of Conceptual Editor the Century by Sandra Boyd Gary Freeze 23 Industry at the Turn of the Century by Gary Freeze Tar Heel Junior Historian Association Advisory Board 26 Urban Life in Charlotte by Dan Morrill Doris McLean Bates, Nancy Cope, Gary Freeze, Rose Geddie, Janice Cole Gibson, Vince Greene, 28 Child Labor by Robert Korstad Deanna Kerrigan, Charles A. LeCount, Rebecca Lewis, Hannah Mendelsohn, 31 Alexander J. McKelway by Sarah Dixon Martha P. Tracy 32 Railroads in North Carolina, 1900 by Allen W. Trelease 34 Furniture Making in North Carolina by Richard Eller 36 From Mine Shafts to Skyscrapers: Banking in Charlotte by Brenden Martin THE PURPOSE of Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine (ISSN 0496-8913) is to present the history of North Carolina to the students of this state through a well- balanced selection of scholarly articles, photographs, and illustrations. It is published two times per year for the Tar Heel Junior Historian Association by the North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4650. Copies are provided free to association advisers, along with the association newsletter, Crossroads. Members receive other benefits, as well. Individual and library subscriptions may be purchased at the rate of $5.00 per year. © 1999, North Carolina Museum of History. PHOTOGRAPHS: Unless otherwise indicated, photographs are courtesy of North Carolina State Archives, North Carolina Division of Archives and History. EDITORIAL POLICY: The Tar Heel Junior Historian solicits manuscripts from expert scholars for each issue. Articles are selected for publication by the editor in consultation with the conceptual editors and other experts. The editor reserves the right to make changes in articles accepted for publication but will consult the author should substantive questions arise. Published articles do not necessarily represent the views of the North Carolina Museum of History, the Department of Cultural Resources, or any other state agency. THE TEXT of this journal is available on magnetic recording tape from the State Library, Serv ices to the Blind and Physically Handicapped Branch. For information call 1-800-662-7726. NINE THOUSAND copies of this public document were printed at an approximate cost of $7,773.42, or $.86 per copy. Introduction to Life at the Turn | the Century by Gary Freeze* In 1901 Sidney Carroll and his family The changes at the turn of the century moved from the country to town. altered how people made their living, how Carroll, a Civil War veteran, had been a they were educated, what freedoms they farmer all his life. For years, his family had enjoyed, and the kind of communities they grown as much cotton as it could lived in. The changes set up a in Cabarrus County but way of living that had made little money. became devoted to The Carrolls lost industry and their land to debt. stayed in place In the 1890s, through they had much of the supported the twentieth Populist Party, century. which had tried to help farmers but deeply divided North Carolina. When the Populists lost their power, Mr. Carroll retired from farming. This illustration shoivs workers picking cotton across the road from a factory. Many North Carolinians From Cotton Mill, Commercial Features, by D. A. Tompkins, 1899. were on the move when the twentieth century dawned. The whole This issue of state was in the midst of a profound Tar Heel Junior A Hamlet, North Carolina, scene showing the transition. It was becoming the leading Historian explores Seaboard Air Line passenger train, ca. 1900. industrial center of the southern United what life was like States. Factories were replacing farms as the around 1900. You source of livelihood for many residents. In will see the tone and scope of life in this 1900 the first cotton factory worth $1 state at the turn of the twentieth century. million, the Loray Mill of Gastonia, was What's more, we want you to understand completed. Tobacco factories in Durham the character of the changes that impacted and Winston-Salem made North Carolina North Carolinians. We will be looking at the leading producer of cigarettes. Furniture three areas: society—how people arranged factories in High Point and Lenoir were just their lives; politics—how people agreed to starting. *Gary Freeze is an associate professor of history and the James F. Hurley Scholar in Residence at Catawba College. Streetcar owned by Durham Traction Company, Durham, in front of Lakewood Amusement Park, ca. 1905. groceries produced far away from the state. Mecklenburg County had begun to pave a few roads to help farmers get the crops to town. In late 1900 the first two automobiles, called Locomobiles, arrived in Charlotte. To folks in cities this was "progress," the word often being spelled with a capital P, as if it were one of the new brand-name products the trains brought to town. Progress meant that many struggling At a gathering, October 1909. farmers could find jobs in the factories. They could buy a wider variety of products the rules that governed them; and than they had ever seen before. Their economics—how people made their living. children could go to a new type of school, Let's go back to Mr. Carroll. When he one with grades that systematically started farming, railroads were literally advanced students toward graduation. engines of change that could take his cotton In politics, the Democratic Party rose to to market much faster than a horse and power as the supporter of Progress. wagon. In the 1870s most North Carolinians Progress made even country folk more had rural habits, and tools were similar to town-oriented than ever before. The those of their grandparents. When the railroads made shipping products like eggs, Carrolls moved to town in 1900, they could strawberries, or sweet potatoes easier, and for the first time use electricity, call merchants encouraged farmers to grow someone on the telephone, ride a trolley car more items like these. The factories created daily, or visit the local market to buy a huge market for cotton and tobacco. Coastal Plain farmers, such as those in Delivery (RFD) mail service. By 1908 most Greene County, grew large quantities of North Carolinians east of the mountains tobacco for the first time around 1900. received RFD, rather than having to walk to Farmers in the foothills, in places such as the neighborhood post office. They also got Cleveland County, grew more cotton to new addresses. Poplar Tent became supply nearby mills. Concord, Route 1. Although they lived in the country and worked as farmers, they had a town identity. (Below) In this 1912 photograph, men are feeding As you will see in this issue, different rye into a threshing machine, which separated the kinds of North Carolinians reacted in grain from the straw. different ways to Progress. The ways of industry impacted North Carolinians unevenly. For example, you will learn how the building of new public schools coincided with literacy tests for voting, a scheme to deny African American males the right to vote. At the same time, cotton Top of letterhead mill families of the P. H. Hanes and Company, struggled to make 1896. ends meet in their new circumstances. Life at the turn of the century was a time of exciting change, but not (Above) Rural mail carriers for the post office at necessarily change that did all North Gold Hill, North Carolina, 1907. Carolinians good. Perhaps the best way to understand the change for country people is to look at the way they adopted new addresses. Before 1900 most North Carolinians identified their location as the nearest church or country crossroads. Mr. Carroll, for example, spent most of his life in Poplar Tent, named for the local Presbyterian church. His counterpart in Pitt County could have lived in Hicks Crossroads. In 1896 China Grove, Rowan County, received the first Rural Free automobiles. (Social Life at the Turn | the Century by Gary Freeze In 1899 a farmer in Catawba County complained The new "soft" drink competed with the old that times had changed.

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